


i'll always have you

by thecoquimonster



Category: Infernal Devices Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2016-08-30
Packaged: 2018-08-11 22:50:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7910644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecoquimonster/pseuds/thecoquimonster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will and Jem have matching tattoos. Jessamine reads more into it than she should.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i'll always have you

**Author's Note:**

> TAKE THE FLUFF TAKE AAAALLLL THE FLUFF.

Will threw his shirt carelessly on the beach chair and kicked off his sandals. The sun-heated cement burned his feet and he took a sharp inhale. Jessamine looked up at him from where she was crouched, digging around her bag for sunscreen. Her eyes went to his chest, right over his heart. He followed her line of sight to realize that she had noticed his tattoo. He had gotten it a few months ago, a phrase written in Chinese characters that Jem had sworn up and down were correct.

Jessamine’s gaze then flickered to Jem, who was also shirtless now. Jem had gotten the same phrase written in Welsh over his shoulder on the same day. It had been a little something to celebrate their new adulthood and their friendship, but until today no one else had ever seen them. Will didn’t even think he’d mentioned it to anyone.

 Jessamine rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“What?” Will scowled.                         

“You two _would_ get matching tattoos,” was Jessamine’s reply. She spread out her pool towel over the chair she had chosen. “When did this happen? And why didn’t you tell me about it?”

“Ah yes, because we’re all such great friends. We share everything with one another,” Will said. “I didn’t know you thought so fondly of me, Jessamine.”

Jem pulled on Will’s arm to shut him up and turned to Jessie. “We got them a few months ago for Will’s eighteenth birthday.”

“I was under the impression that only couples got matching tattoos,” Jessamine said. “Unless there’s something else you want to tell me.”

“Of course not,” Will snapped. It wasn’t a lie. He and Jem had been friends since they were twelve years old. But his heart started pounding regardless. He was acutely aware of how close Jem was standing to him. Jem had let go of his arm but he was still near enough that Will could feel Jem’s body heat.

Jessamine managed to look both disinterested and amused at the same time. She didn’t say anything else on the matter as she put on sunscreen. She muttered about how unfortunate it was that she burned so easily, because she would _really_ have liked to get a tan for once in her life. Will watched Jessamine and wondered why he and Jem bothered hanging out with her. Jessamine didn’t even like them. The feeling was rather mutual, at least for Will.

Jem bumped his shoulder and grinned. Will returned the smile and nearly tripped over himself racing Jem to the pool. The lifeguards blew their whistles at them but Will jumped into the water and the splash drowned out the noise.

They resurfaced to the lifeguard’s yelling. Will nodded, but wasn’t listening at all to the lecture about not running around the pool. Jem spat pool water in Will’s face and he spluttered.

“You didn’t put on sunscreen. You’re going to burn to a crisp,” Jem said.

Will shrugged.

“And mess up your tattoo,” Jem added.

“I guess you did put on sunscreen, then?” Will groaned. He swam his way over to the ladder to climb out of the water. He shook his hair like a dog and glanced at Jem, who was floating on his back. His eyes were closed and his smile was even brighter than the sun.

Will walked over to Jessamine, stretched out on her towel and listening to her iPod. He pulled out one of her earbuds. She took off her sunglasses to glare at him.

“Sunscreen,” was all that Will said.

Jessamine turned and flung the bottle at him. He caught it and grinned winningly. 

“Now fuck off,” Jessamine said, and flipped open the magazine that she had brought. She didn’t seem concerned that she had just used profanity while a seven year old walked past them. But then, Will wasn’t concerned either.

Will rolled his eyes as he opened the bottle of sunscreen. Jessamine was the sort of person to drag Will to the pool but never get in herself. What was the point of going to the pool if she didn’t want to swim?

This time, Will jumped off of the diving board. Jem was sitting on the edge of the pool with his feet dipped, in a shallower area of the pool. Will swam all the way to him. By the time he got to Jem, Will was panting with effort. The sun had already dried off the water from Jem’s torso, but he flashed Will another grin and slipped into the water beside his friend without so much as a splash.

Will’s heart stuttered. This close, he could see the glint of a golden color in Jem’s dark brown eyes. He opened his mouth but found he couldn’t say a word.

“Are you going to stay at my house tonight?” Jem asked.

The question was unnecessary. Will and Jem stayed over at one another’s houses so often that one year Will’s parents had asked Jem to be a part of their Christmas photos as a joke. Jem had actually agreed to it. That year the Herondales had sent out Christmas cards with a photo of them, their three children, and Jem. Will kept one of the cards in his room.

Will never refused an invitation to stay over at Jem’s house, unless it was a school night. “Of course.”

.

Will collapsed on Jem’s bed, clean from his shower. His shoulders and face stung. The sunscreen hadn’t shielded him all that well. Jem had promised to see if he could find some aloe lotion after dinner.

He’d borrowed a T-shirt and shorts to sleep in from Jem and Will grinned as he entered the basement. Jem had taken a shower first but his hair was still wet. He held a box of pizza in his hands. Will sat upright. He was starving. His mouth watered and his stomach begged for the pizza. It took his mind off of the sunburn for now.

“We have Netflix now,” Jem announced as he set down the pizza on a nearby table.

They agreed on some movie but Will wasn’t truly paying attention. He drank his Coke and ate four slices of pizza, but he was aware of how close Jem sat next to him. Jem had always sat this close to him. He was certain of it. Will didn’t just know why he was so conscious of it all of a sudden.

It must have had something to do with Jessamine’s comment earlier that afternoon. It had stuck in his head like a piece of chewed gum on pavement.

It wasn’t like he and Jem hadn’t been mistaken for a couple before. Will had lost count of how many times classmates had teased them for it. It had become somewhat of a joke between them. Today was the only time his heart had jumped at the thought.

Will’s gaze flickered to Jem’s shoulder. Jem was wearing a tank top that showed off his tattoo and Will read over the phrase seven times.

“Will,” came Jem’s quiet voice as Will was reading it for the eighth time.

He swallowed and looked up to meet Jem’s gaze. Their faces were too close and Will could feel the blood start to rush in his veins. His hands started to sweat and Will wiped them on his shorts. Jem leaned in just a little closer until their lips were a hair’s width apart.

Will’s cheeks started to heat up and it had nothing to do with his sunburn. Before he could overthink anything, Will pressed his lips against Jem’s. A brush of lips. He could feel Jem break into a grin as they kissed and it made his stomach fill with butterflies.

He reached out and rested his hand on Jem’s waist. He didn’t pull him in, but Jem shifted closer as though he could tell what Will wanted. Jem became bolder. He took Will's face in his hands and deepened the kiss. Will didn’t realize he had opened his mouth until he felt Jem’s tongue against his, slow and soft.

Will broke away from the kiss first. Jem’s eyes fluttered open and he smiled the way he’d kissed.

“So, William. Is there something else you want to share with Jessamine?” Jem asked, but his smile grew wicked. 

Will scrunched his nose. “Well, I certainly won’t be telling her anything right now.”

“What about me? Is there something you want to tell me?”

“Yes. We’re dating,” Will said bravely. He broke into a grin and poked at Jem's shoulder. “And the Welsh on your tattoo is wrong.”

Jem jumped back and studied the tattoo. He was not as familiar with Welsh as Will was with Mandarin. Jem had deemed learning the language a lost cause. Still, he read it and then looked back to Will’s face to see the glint in his eye. He shoved over Will playfully and landed on top of him. “Liar.”

Will let out a laugh and found Jem’s face close again. This time when Will’s heart rate picked up, it was more enjoyable. The fear of rejection had been replaced with mere anticipation. Will cupped his hand behind Jem’s neck and pulled him in. Jem grinned before kissing him.

“James,” Will said once Jem had pulled away from the kiss. He was cuddled up against Will’s chest and tapping the rhythm to some song he was probably learning. Will couldn’t tell what piece it was.

He looked up to meet Will’s gaze. “Hmm?”

“Please don't ever break up with me,” Will said.

One of the corners of Jem’s mouth curved upwards with amusement. “You’re already worrying about that, are you?”

“Well, it would be awfully messy, don’t you think? These tattoos would make it awkward as fuck,” Will said.

Jem threw his head up to laugh. “I promise not to under one condition.”

“And what’s that?”

Jem climbed up and touched their foreheads together. Will felt his breath brush against his sunburned cheeks. “That you promise not to break up with me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Listen, do you think I'm going to do any research for a one-shot I wrote in four hours? Do you think I'm actually going to decide what their tattoos say? Pshhh.


End file.
